Remembering
by Fye R Fly
Summary: This started as a just a few paragraphs that I wrote one night, and somehow turned into a story. All reviews are appreciated, and I hope you all like it :
1. Prolouge

Authors Note: I don't know where I was going with this, it was just a random... really random thing that I wrote in 20 minutes and I don't even think it's that good, maybe it'll go somewhere maybe it won't... any ideas/comments/suggestions are appreciated! Also, I do not own any fo the characters in this story, they all belong to S.E Hinton. 

"Johnny is dead..." Those three words resonated through Two Bit Matthew's mind as he grabbed a beer, and popped the top off, taking a sip. "Dallas Winston shot..." Three new words joined the three already resonating through his mind and he threw the empty bottle away and grabbed another popping the top off. The TV in front of him gave off a low glow, the only light that was in the room, except for the moonlight bouncing off the glass beer bottles. Mickey Mouse was parading around on the stage, with a smile on his face, and Two Bit glared and threw the bottle at the TV, "Stupid mouse..." he mumbled. "Don't he know everyone is DEAD?" his voice came out slurred and distant.

Two Bit, finally having finished the two six packs sitting in front of him, pushed the empty beer bottles off the couch, and laid down, stretching out on the couch, his eyes closed. He could still see Dally's arrogant smile, and Johnny's dark, sad eyes. He shook his head trying to get the images away, and tried to concentrate on something happy, like his girl, Amanda. A smile slowly spread across his face as he thought of her strawberry blonde hair, which settled in waves around her face, and complimented her hazel eyes. "Finally something I like," he mumbled, and continued to think about Amanda, a particular memory sticking out his mind. Amanda hadn't been like most girls he'd dated, and she'd been hesitant at first to meet the other greasers, and was especially scared of Dallas Winston. Dally had just laughed and pulled her hair slightly and told her she was a cute kid...Two Bit frowned as the image of Dallas came into his mind again and he couldn't shake it. His mind wandered back to the first time he'd met Dally.

Two Bit had been around ten at the time, and heard of Dallas Winston of course, there wasn't a greaser around who hadn't, but he had never seen him. Planning on stealing some beer and cigarettes to last him through the next few days, Two Bit had walked into the store, and noticed a tall, arrogant looking boy leaning against the door frame a cigarette hanging from his mouth, and his hand in his pocket, fumbling for the lighter, a cold hard look in his eyes. Of course, there was no doubt in his mind who this was, it was the Dallas Winston, and even Two Bit Matthews, who was usually unshakeable, too a step back and gulped. There was something about the way he held himself, that showed off his cocky, arrogant nature and just challenged anyone to come up and make him mad. Clearing his throat, he had started into the store, pushing past Dallas Winston, who watched him, his eyes boring holes into the back of Two Bit's blue Mickey Mouse shirt. This was the only time Two Bit had ever been nervous before when stealing, and under Dally's watchful gaze, he managed to steal the pocket knife, (which unknown to him at the time, would help bring upon Dallas Winston's death, in an indirectly way), two packs of cigarettes, and a six pack of beer. He headed out the door nonchalantly and was walking down the street, when he felt someone behind him and he turned to see Dally. "You've got talent," he said taking a puff of his cigarette, "What do you do around here for fun besides steal from innocent store owners?" he smirked, and took one of the beers out of Two Bit's hands, and watched him. "Well just don't be silent." he said pulling out a bottle opener and opening it, taking a long sip. "Where do you greasers do around her for fun?" There was nothing disrespectful about the way he said "greasers" and from that day on, Dally had become one of Two Bit's best friends.

...And then there was Johnny. Two Bit couldn't think of Dally without thinking of Johnny, and he got choked up. Johnny had been the "kicked dog" of the group, always afraid, always looked like he was going to jump out of his skin. And yet, he'd been their favorite. The small boy who looked no older than 14 at most, with his sad eyes and jumpy manner, soft tone of voice, and different ideals had been the center point of the group, and it was ironic that the two most different members of the tight clique where the most respected, and loved. No one messed around with Johnny, without messing with Dally, and more than once they were reminded of that. Johnny, being the "soc target" of the group, quickly earned himself a brotherhood of protectors and friends. Two Bit's mind wandered to the last rumble they'd had, the one that they won for Johnny, the one that was supposed to make everything better, only it didn't. Trying to get rid of his memories, Two Bit stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed another beer, popping it open and chugging it down, and right before he passed out, the last thing he saw were Dally and Johnny's faces.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Emily walked into the house, and pushed her brown hair out of her eyes sighing as she dropped her bag on the table, looked around for her brother, she then called out "Two Bit? I'm home…" she frowned when there was no answer and walked into the living room groaning at all the empty beer bottles. She had known that Two Bit would take this hard, but this was a lot to drink, even for him. Picking her way through the bottles that laid everywhere, she walked over to the kitchen and sighed when she saw him slumped on the floor and knelt next to him, "Two Bit?" she said softly shaking him, "come on, wake up…"

Two Bit groaned and shifted, his eyes slowly opening and he groaned, "Em?"

"Yeah, it's me," She said frowning at him, he smelled like beer, "Come on, let's get you up and into bed, you're trashed." Emily laughed lightly and started to help him up.

"They're dead Em," he said his words slurred as she helped him up.

"I know TB, I know," she said softly and helped him up, and he suddenly bolted into the bathroom, throwing up in the toilet, and just barely making it.

Emily sighed and knelt down beside him with a glass of water rubbing his back, "I can't believe you drank that much. Mom is going to kill you. I should kill you…if the alcohol doesn't first."

Two Bit groaned as he leaned back against the wall, his eyes shut, "Hell, she won't kill me, she likes me too much…" he said softly with an attempt at a smile.

Emily held out the glass of water. "Drink slowly." she said and rubbed his shoulder gently as she held it up to his mouth. "Careful…you're getting it everywhere."

He sighed and drank slowly, "thanks kid," He murmured.

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed, "I'm used to helping your sorry butt up after you pass out from too much to drink."

"I know, and I love ya for it," he smirked, "Help me to bed?" He groaned his head spinning.

"Yeah," She said and helped him up, "Come on…easy does it…"

Two Bit got up and slumped against his younger sister, and Emily helped him back to his room, "Sit," she said as they got to the bed and she slowly helped him sit down. "What were you thinking?" She pulled off his shoes and his shirt, which smelled of beer, and laid him back in the bed.

"Johnny had sad eyes you know," Two Bit slurred, "And Dally…Dally was tough."

"I know," Emily said softly, "Just get some sleep okay?" She kissed his forehead gently. "You'll have one hell of a hangover in the morning."

"Stay with me for a while?" He asked sleepily.

Emily nodded, sitting down in a chair next to her brother's bed. "Emily?" Two Bit mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Don't die on me kid," he said sleepily.

"I won't," she whispered and kissed his cheek again before he drifted off to sleep. Once he was asleep she slipped out of the room and walked into the living room, and grabbed a big garbage bag picking up the beer bottles and throwing them inside. She emptied the ash trays, and cleaned up after him, her mom had enough problems she didn't need to come home and find the house in shambles. Emily sighed and flopped down on the couch hugging a pillow to her stomach, and she felt something sharp hit her leg, she shifted and pulled out Two Bit's switchblade that he'd gotten back. Running her fingers over it, she sighed softly and slid it into the pocket of Two Bit's leather jacket when she knew he'd find it. As she got up to go back in and lay down, a picture caught her eye and she picked it up. It had been taken a few months ago, the whole gang down at the lot, when Two Bit had swiped a camera and decided it was time to try it out.

Steve Randle was leaning up against the car, his arms folded across his chest, a cocky smile playing at his lips, and Emily remembered how Two Bit had to keep telling him jokes just to keep it there. His hair was falling into his eyes, and covering up his brown eyes. Emily paused at his face for a moment and then her eyes moved to the person standing next to him, his arm slung around Steve's shoulders, a boy named Sodapop Curtis with a reckless grin, and a face handsome enough to be from a magazine, his light hair pushed back from his face so that his large expressive eyes could be seen. Soda's other arm was around a younger boy, who had a somewhat dreamy smile on his face as he looked towards the camera. The younger boy was Ponyboy Curtis, and kneeling on the ground in front of him, cigarettes in the fold of his sleeve, with a tough determined look about him, was his older brother Darry. Emily's eyes paused at them for a minute and then moved over to two figures that were standing slightly off to the side. A tall boy with dark hair, dark eyes, and a hard expression on his face was leaning up against the middle of the car, his arms leaning on the window sill where the window would normally been had it been rolled up, his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. Emily felt herself choke up as she stared down at the familiar face, and she ran her fingers lightly over his face. "Dally…" she said softly, and then her fingers grazed over another familiar face: Johnny Cade. The "baby" of the group, with dark hair and eyes that showed fear and hurt looked back up at her. He was smiling, but for some reason he didn't look as happy or as free as the other boys. Emily tore her gaze away from the picture and set it down, face down on the table, when the door opened.

"Hello Emily," Mrs. Mathews said a tired worn out look on her face. "Is Two Bit asleep?"

Emily nodded, "yeah, he had a hard day." She failed to mention the fact that he was probably passed out the whole time; she knew her mother could pretty much guess that on her own, so she left it unsaid.

"Is he taking Dally and Johnny's deaths pretty hard?" She asked as she opened the refrigerator door and pulled out the milk, and then grabbed a glass.

Emily looked away "everyone is," she said softly and then cleared her throat, trying not to cry, "I'm going to head in, I think I'll sleep in Two Bit's room tonight."

Her mother nodded and pulled out a cigarette, grabbed the milk and walked into her room. Emily walked back into Two Bit's room and curled up in the chair, and listened to his breathing, unable to fall asleep herself.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next morning Emily woke up to the sound of Two Bit throwing up again and groaned as she buried her face in the pillow, not wanting to deal with any of this right now. "Em?" he called groaning slightly as he leaned back against the wall. "Could you get me a glass of water?"

Sighing, she pushed back the covers and got up, walking over to the kitchen rubbing her eyes, not surprised to find someone already sitting in there, "what do you want?" She asked somewhat sleepily as she passed by Sodapop to get to the sink.

He smiled and gave her a brotherly kiss on the cheek, "aren't you just wonderful in the morning."

Emily rubbed her eyes and said in a slightly agitated tone, "you would be annoyed too if you got home late last night from work to find your brother passed out on the floor and then woke up to the sound of him hurling." She grabbed a glass and filled it with water.

"How's he doin'?" Soda asked, "Darry said I should check on him…said he didn't look so good yesterday."

"Go see for yourself," she said and handed him the glass "I got to change…I have to work today, he's in the bathroom."

Soda took the glass and knocked on the door to the bathroom "Two Bit?"

"Heya Soda," he grinned as he pushed the door open with his foot, "come on in."

"Man you look like you've been through hell," he said sitting down next to him and handing him the water.

"Well, in a way, yeah," he rubbed his eyes drinking some of the water, "what are you doing here?"

"Came to see how you were doing, superman was worried about you," he replied as he watched Two Bit. "You look like you had enough to drink for all of us, sorta wish I could have gotten drunk, better than sitting up all night and having to think about it."

"Let me tell you it didn't help as much as I thought it would," Two Bit as he finished the water, "I haven't had a hang over this bad in ages."

"Maybe it'll teach ya to lay off the beers for a little while," Soda said, and then when heard the snort of disgust from Two Bit, he smirked, "Didn't think so." He looked down at his hands and then said, "the funeral is at two tomorrow, you comin'?"

"'Course I'm coming," Two Bit said, surprised that he would even ask, "Emily is comin' with me."

"You going to be sober when ya come?"

"Now that, I can't promise," he said with a shrug, "although I don't think Emily will stand for me to be drunk at a funeral." he rubbed his eyes again.

Soda smirked "Well at least there's a chance you'll be sober. Want me to drive Emily to work for you? You don't look like you're in a position to drive."

"Yeah, that'd be great," he said and stood up slowly. "I'm gonna go lie down, see you later Soda."

Soda stood and went to wait in the living room until Emily came out, and when she did he looked up, "I'm supposed to take you to work today, Two Bit's got too big of a hangover."

"I figured as much I can walk though, not a big deal," she replied as she grabbed her bag, and her nametag. She worked at a drug store only a few blocks from their house for past three years, part time of course, while she was in school. At sixteen, she was a junior and even though she wouldn't ever admit it to Two Bit, it was embarrassing that she was now in the same grade as her own brother, who was two years older.

"It's okay, I got to pick up some aspirin for Darry anyway, he went a little over board yesterday carrying shingles."

"Back rub didn't help?" she asked surprised. Soda was famous for his backrubs, and while she never had one, they'd always seemed to work for Darry.

"It helped some, just not enough and my hands got too tired." Soda shrugged and led her out the car, "So how are you holdin' up?"

"Well I'm alive," she shrugged with a sigh, "I just…I miss Dally and Johnny. I keep expecting to see them, you know, hanging out on the corner or bursting into our house at all hours of the night looking for a place to sleep or to watch Mickey Mouse on TV…" she sighed and stared out the window.

Soda pushed some hair out of her eyes gently, "Don't worry about it Em, we're all expecting the same thing, only it's not gonna happen." He pulled his hand away and started the car. "Things just won't be the same around here I guess."

"No they won't," she agreed softly as she looked out the window, she changed the topic and asked, "Have you heard from Sandy?"

Soda paused, and an awkward silence hung in the air as he took a deep breath and shook his head, "No," he said sadly, "I haven't…she… doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Well she was a jerk anyway," she shrugged, "you can do much better than that Sodapop Curtis."

"I don't know Em," he said softly shaking his head. "There isn't ever gonna be someone like Sandy." He pulled out the driveway and started driving her towards work.

"You're right," Emily replied, "there's going to be someone better." She smiled as Soda looked back over at her and his reckless smile came back.

"Maybe your right," he said as he pulled up in front of the drugstore a few minutes later. "Anyway, here you are."

She nodded and got out, "Oh I almost forgot…I have something for Pony coulda give it to him for me?" she asked, and when he nodded she fished a small black book out of her bag.

Soda raised an eyebrow, "he doesn't have enough numbers to fill even one page in that thing!"

Emily rolled her eyes, "It's not that kind of book; it's a journal/sketchbook thing. I thought maybe he would like to write, someplace to jot down those dreams of his."

Soda smiled and took the book from her, "I'm sure he'll like it, I'll pass it on."

"Say hi to everyone for me," she replied, "and if Pony and Steve don't want to do our usual Friday night poker game…they don't have to."

Soda nodded, "sure… I'll let 'em know, see you later kid."

Emily rolled her eyes at the name and slid out of the car, shutting the door and headed into work.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When Emily got off from work that afternoon she was surprised to find Soda waiting for her, "Hey, what are you doing here?" She asked him watching him with a confused expression on her face.

Soda hesitated, "Had to, no one else to pick you up, Two Bit is too sick, Steve couldn't leave the shop, and Darry's at work, and well, no one trust Pony to drive…and…" he stopped.

"Dally can't, because he's not here," she said softly and he hesitated opening his mouth to say something, but she quickly said, "I can walk you know…really, it's not that far."

"I know, there's just been some problems with Socs lately and none of us want to take a chance, you know they'll jump on the opportunity to jump a girl," he paused not wanting to say 'girl greaser', "a girl who's the sister of one of the greasers… we just worry that's all."

Emily sighed and shrugged. "Alright, well let's get going, I have to make dinner tonight, provided Two Bit will stop throwing up long enough to eat."

He held the door open for her, and when she got in he went around to the other side and got in as well. "You know if you ever need help taking care of him when he gets drunk you can call us, you shouldn't have to do it alone."

"I know," Emily answered and looked out the window, "But…sometimes I think it embarrasses him, and well I don't mind, I've gotten used to it. It's just the drinking has gotten worse since…" She paused letting her sentence trail off.

Soda nodded, "Well if you ever need to get away you know the door to our house is always open, night or day, although if you come at night, you probably won't get as nice of a greeting." He smiled at her quickly before turning his eyes back to the road.

"Don't worry I wouldn't interrupt at night except for a real emergency, and then I wouldn't expect a really good welcome."

Soda nodded. "Pony said thanks for the book, he's been holed up writing all day, not sure what though although I'm dying to read it. Darry told Pony he'd make sure I don't read it."

Emily laughed, and shrugged, "Oh speaking of Darry, here's his aspirin…I hope his back is feeling better, it's supposed to be extra strength or something, not sure it'll help, but it's better than nothing." she set the bottle down next to him on the seat.

He picked up the bottle, slipping it into his coat pocket. "Thanks. I'll give it to him when I get back."

She opened the car door and slid out as she grabbed her bag. "Thanks for the ride Soda. Tell Darry and Pony I said hi."

Sodapop nodded and paused for a minute. "Need me to come in with you? See how Two Bit is doing?"

"I think I'll be okay, he's probably just asleep anyway, and he'll most likely be in a really crabby mood because of his hangover. I'll call or come over if I need help or anything." She shut the door to the car, and waved goodbye to Soda as she walked up to the door and opened it, walking inside.

Soda stayed where he was for a moment, and watched her until she got inside, then backed out of the driveway and headed towards home.

Emily set her things down on the kitchen table, and opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. As she opened it, she walked into the living room to find her brother sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the television set, which appeared to be off. "Hey," she said walking over to the couch and sitting down next to him putting her feet up on the coffee table. "Have you been sitting here all day?"

Two Bit looked over at her, and shook his head. "Nah, I was asleep most of the day, hangovers are nasty, never drink."

"Don't worry, I won't, you do enough of that for the both of us," she commented dryly as she took a sip of the water and then offered it to him. Two Bit took it, drank some and handed it back. "Soda is worried about you, you know. We're all upset, and we all miss them a lot, but it's not good for you to sit here all day drinking and staring at a blank television set."

"I'm fine," he said forcing a smile as he looked over at her. "Just a little hung over is all."

"Don't lie to me Two Bit Matthews," Emily said with a frown, "I'm you're sister. Soda is one of your best friends. We want to help. We're all going through the same thing right now."

Two Bit paused for a minute, and seemed to get choked up. "No, we're not." He turned his gaze from hers back to staring at the blank television set.

She fell silent, not sure what to say in reply. After a few minutes of staring at the same blank television set, she cleared her throat. "I think you need to get out of here. Call up Amanda go get something to eat, see a movie, take a walk….do something; anything but just sitting here. I bet she's worried about you, you haven't called in a few days, and everyone knows that you guys used to talk at least twice a day."

"Maybe later," Two Bit responded. "I don't really feel like talking to her right now- besides, she's probably happy that Dally is gone, he used to scare the hell out of her."

"That's not true," Emily said with a frown, "you know her better than that. She wouldn't want him to die just because he scared her." She sighed softly. "Look, if you don't want to go do anything with her, go do something with Soda. Or Darry. Or Steve. Or go visit Ponyboy. And if you won't do it for yourself, do it for me, I'm sick of cleaning up your beer bottles and watching you sit on this couch like a zombie."

"Gee, thanks for the sympathy," Two Bit said dryly.

Emily gave him a slight smile. "No problem. That's what little sisters are for, right?"

Two Bit grunted slightly and ran his hand through his hair. "If you want me to go out, I'll go out, but I won't like it."

"Fine by me," She replied with a shrug. "I'm not going to require that you like it, I'm just going to require that you get your butt off this couch. We can go see Ponyboy if you want, you haven't been to see him in a few days…. Let me just get changed out of this awful uniform." She handed the bottle of water to Two Bit to finish, and stood up, and went into her room. A few minutes later she came back out in jeans and a t-shirt. "Alright, let's go. We'll just walk, it's not far."

Two Bit stood up and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he followed his sister outside. As they walked, Emily tried to think of something to say to him, but it was clear by his expression that he wasn't really in the mood to talk. She bit her lip and stared straight ahead. She had never seen him this upset and for so long before. Granted, he had reason to be upset, they all did, but this was very unlike him.

When they reached the Curtis's house a few minutes later, Emily knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. After a moment the door opened and she saw Soda standing on the other side a piece of chocolate cake in his hand. "Little late for breakfast," she teased with a smile as he opened the door to let them in.

"Nothing else in the house," Soda said with a shrug. "Besides, cake is good for any time of the day."

"Is Ponyboy here? Two Bit and I thought that we would come by and say hello…we haven't seen him in a while."

"Yeah, he's in his room, still writing. Like I said, I don't know what he has to write about though," Soda replied with a shrug as he set the plate with the piece of cake on it on a table, and led the two down the hall. "He might not be too talkative; he's been pretty quiet lately. He's been having awful dreams lately so he's pretty tired." Soda knocked on the door gently. "Pony? Emily and Two Bit are here to see you…" When he got no response, he opened the door slowly. "Go on in," he said softly to the two of them.

Inside, Ponyboy was sitting at a desk, which he had pushed up against the window, a pencil in one hand, the notebook that Emily had given him lying open in front of him. "Hey Pony," she said as she walked into the room, Two Bit following.

"How ya doin' kid?" Two Bit asked as he watched the back of Pony's head.

After a few minutes Pony turned around, a tired worn out look on his face. "About as good as can be expected."

Emily nodded. "Soda tells me that you've been holed up in here all day. Why don't we go for a walk or something? You probably haven't eaten much, we could stop and get something to eat, a burger or something; just the three of us, you, me, and Two Bit."

"Well, maybe it would be good to get out of here for a little bit," Ponyboy replied, and smiled slightly, "Then Soda won't be hovering around my door trying to figure out if I'm okay or not."

She laughed. "That's what brothers are for." She looked over at Two Bit who was staring idly out the window, past Ponyboy's head.

Pony followed Emily's gaze for a moment, and then stood up and grabbed his jacket off the bed. "Come on, let's get out of here." He slid the notebook that Emily had given him in the back pocket of his jeans, and left the room.

Emily followed him out, followed by Two Bit. "See you later Soda!" She called as the trio left the house, letting the rickety old screen door close behind them.

"Where are you going?" Soda asked as he stopped in front of the screen door to look out at them.

Pony shrugged, "Just out. Take a walk; get some food….just out."

"Want me to go with you?" Soda asked, a slightly worried look on his face.

"He'll be fine," Emily commented, cutting in. "We won't be gone too long. Besides, we're just going to stay around here- we won't go too far, and Two Bit is with us in case we need anything."

"Alright then, I'll see you guys later. Call if you need anything." He watched them for a moment longer then went and sat down in front of the television, turning it on.

"He doesn't need to watch me every minute," Pony said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking.

"He's just worried. You've been through a lot, not that we all haven't but…" She shrugged and let her sentence trail off. "He just doesn't want anything to happen to you, that's all."

"I think I'm going to go home Emily," Two Bit commented after a few minutes of walking. "I'll meet up with you guys later."

She frowned slightly. "Are you sure? I thought you were going to get out of the house for a while."

"Maybe later. Right now I think I just want to get some sleep." At her frown he gave her a slight smile, "just tired from the hangover that's all. Don't worry kid." He reached out to mess up her hair, and Emily, used to it, stepped back avoiding his hand.

"Alright…I'll be home later. If you change your mind you can come and join us."

Two Bit nodded. "Sure." He nodded at Pony. "See ya later Ponyboy."

Pony said goodbye, and watched him walk away. Emily looked down at the ground, a little upset. "I don't know what's wrong with him. He's never acted like this before. All he does is sit on the couch at home and drink."

"Well, like you said, we all have been through a lot," Pony commented as he kicked a stone that was in the middle of the sidewalk. "Everyone deals with it in their own way I guess."

She nodded and fell silent for a few minutes. After a moment she sighed, "I just wish he could deal with it in a non-destructive way."

Pony made no reply, mostly because he did not know what to say. He continued to kick the stone as he walked. "Let's not talk about this," Emily spoke up finally, even though they weren't technically talking about it, each was thinking about it. "Soda tells me that you have been writing a lot, and he's dying to know what you're writing."

He nodded. "I know. And maybe someday I will show it to him."

"Fair enough. If you finish that notebook up, let me know and I'll get you another one from the store."

As they continued to walk, they both lapsed into silence again, and the rest of the walk continued in that manner.

When she got home, Emily looked walked into the living room, surprised to see that Two Bit was not sprawled out on the sofa. "Two Bit?" She called as she knocked on the door to his room. When she received no response, she opened the door, and realized that the reason that she did not receive an answer was because he wasn't inside. Sighing with frustration, she grabbed a piece of paper and wrote him a quick note, explaining that she had an extra shift at work that night and wouldn't be back until late. She left it on the table and quickly changed before hurrying out the door.

A few hours later, Emily finished work, exhausted and ready to go home and lay down. She finished closing up, waved goodbye to her friends, and left to walk home. As she walked down the street, she wished that she had asked Two Bit to come and pick her up in the note she had left. It was almost pitch dark, and not being able to see everything around her was making her a bit jumpy.

Fifteen minutes later she had arrived home, not surprised that there was no car in the driveway, she knew her mother usually worked late. She pushed open the gate and walked up to the front porch, where she dug around in her bag for her house key. For a moment she considered knocking on the door, but realized that that would involve Two Bit get out of bed to come and open the door, which was not likely to happen, even if he still was awake. She finally felt her fingers brush across something metal, and she grabbed it. A moment later she had unlocked the door and turned on the light in the kitchen. Too tired to get anything to eat, and convinced that if she looked she wouldn't find much in any of the cabinets or the refrigerator, she was about to go into her room and go to bed when she realized that the note she left on the table hadn't been touched. The pencil was still sitting next to it, exactly how she left it.

Leaving the kitchen, she walked into the living room, which showed no signs of anyone having been there since she had left. She looked around for a moment longer, and then walked over to Two Bit's door, and knocked. Again she received no answer, and she took the liberty to open it herself. The room was dark, but the light that came through the window was enough to show her that Two Bit was not in bed. Emily ran a hand through her hair, and sighed, torn between going to bed and just letting it go; there had been nights when he hadn't come home before, and trying to find him. Normally she would have just gone to bed, trusting that he would be back by morning, or mid afternoon, whenever he woke up at wherever he had been, but this time was different. The fact that he had not been acting like himself lately was enough to convince her that she should try and find him before going to bed.

The most obvious place to start, at least to her, was with his friends. Picking up the phone, she curled up in a chair, and dialed Steve's number. After ten rings no one had answered, and she hung up. She stared at the phone for a moment before she dialed the Curtis's number. It only took five rings for a groggy, annoyed voice, to pick up on the other end. "Yeah?"

"Darry?" She asked, taking a guess, even when they weren't tired and annoyed all the brothers sounded the same.

"Yeah, who is this?" he asked, an annoyed tone in his voice still.

"It's Emily… I'm sorry to wake you." She bit her lip, hoping he wasn't too mad.

"Emily?" It took a moment for Darry to focus and realize who he was talking to. "You do realize it's two thirty don't you?"

"Yeah, I know… Sorry about that. It's just I was wondering if you had seen Two Bit tonight."

Darry shook his head. When he realized that she couldn't see him, he responded, "No I haven't. He hasn't been around here tonight, why?"

"He never came home this afternoon….he was supposed to go out with Pony and I, but he said he'd rather go home and sleep, and I haven't seen him since. I'm worried, the funeral is this afternoon and he hasn't been acting like himself lately…I just don't want him to do anything stupid."

Darry was now almost fully awake. "Give me about ten minutes. Soda and I will come over and help you look for him."

"Thanks," she said and hung up the phone. She stared at it for a few minutes, and then rested her head against the back of the chair, and closed her eyes. Although she was exhausted, she could not keep her eyes shut, and finally abandoned the idea of resting for a few minutes, and instead went to the window to watch for Soda and Darry.


End file.
